Fire starters have been used dating back at least to the colonial days when wood fires were needed for providing warmth and for cooking. A typical fire starter included a cast iron or brass pot configured to hold a flammable liquid such as lamp oil and a stone that inserts into the pot and absorbs the liquid stored therein. The stone was generally pumice or soapstone and would remain submerged in the flammable liquid when not being used to start a fire.
To start a fire, the stone is removed from the pot and lit, and placed beneath the fuel grate of a fireplace. The lit stone would be left beneath the fuel grate until the wood or other fuel source in the fireplace ignited. The lit stone is then removed from the fireplace and placed back in the pot, once sufficiently cooled. Fire lighters of this type can still be found today.
Unfortunately, removing a submerged stone from the containment pot gives rise to the possibility of spilling the flammable liquid. Also, the removal of the stone from beneath the fuel grate of a fireplace may pose problems as the stone may be lit and/or at a high temperature.